On Thursday 26 March 2009 09:46:41 Jones, Scott (GE Money, consultant) wrote:
> I have two questions:
>> I have a system with a BIOS date of 8/2007. It works, runs, but I
> believe a BIOS update would let the onboard SATA controller work better.
> I am nervous about running a BIOS upgrade though. The mobo is from
> MicroStar Int'l (MSI). Anyone know how to safely a) find the correct
> upgrade image, and b) apply it, on a system running Linux.
The problem with a lot of motherboard BIOS updates is that they require a
DOS/Windows boot diskette. This can be replaced with a USB stick-drive if your
current BIOS will boot to a USB drive. For people like me that don't keep
DOS/Windows around for formatting these kinds of things, I've found several
sites that feature Windows 98 boot diskette images. These contain all the files
you need (command.com, etc.) to boot off the disk. Just use 'dd' to write the
diskette image to your USB device, mount the device and copy the BIOS update
application you download from MSI's website, and the updated BIOS image file.
Mr. Lovell has already explained that MSI's site has the goodies you need to
download. Keep in mind that if all they offer is an executable (.exe), it's
very likely you can still extract the files inside the executable with your
friendly neighborhood 'unzip' program.
If you don't know the model number of your motherboard, the 'dmidecode'
program is your friend. Here's an excerpt from my desktop machine:
System Information
Manufacturer: MICRO-STAR INTERANTONAL CO.,LTD
Product Name: MS-7508
Version: 1.0
Serial Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
UUID: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-001D92EE6000
Wake-up Type: Power Switch
SKU Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Family: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
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